News & Features
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Tasting Highlights
New reviews of Cabernet Sauvignon from California’s Napa Valley
Posted: May 13, 2013 By James Laube
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
As much as wine pros like to debate alcohol and ripeness, consumers' main concerns are consistency, availability and affordability
Posted: May 9, 2013 By James Laube
Within wine industry circles, there's often debate about style. Winemakers talk about scaling up or down in ripeness or alcohol. Restaurateurs and sommeliers consider which wines are better-suited for their eatery, or different cuisines, or occasions.
I never hear much of anything from consumers about wanting different styles. In fact, when I'm on the road, visiting with or drinking with friends and readers, the concerns I hear most often relate to where people live and which wines are (and are not) available to them there.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
The BottleRock music, wine and food festival will welcome 40,000 visitors a day to the city of Napa
Posted: May 6, 2013 By James Laube
Tens of thousands of visitors are expected to descend on the city of Napa (pop. 76,915) this week, but, oddly enough, that has little to do directly with wine. They're coming for BottleRock, a five-day music festival featuring more than 60 bands on three stages, headlined by the Black Keys, the Kings of Leon, Jane's Addiction, Train, Alabama Shakes and the Zac Brown Band.
It would be a big event anywhere; it's truly seismic for Napa. BottleRock promoters expect to draw 35,000 to 40,000 music lovers each day to the Napa Valley Expo, a 26-acre plot of state-owned property best known for the annual Napa Town & Country Fair in August, which might draw 40,000 people in a week. To get a grasp on the scale of BottleRock, think Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tenn., or Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival in Southern California's Indio, two big outdoor music festivals with scores of big-name acts and huge crowds.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
New owners, a new winemaker and new vines won't change the character of the Napa Valley icon atop Mount Veeder
Posted: May 3, 2013 By James Laube
Some things need fixing at the recently sold Mayacamas Vineyards.
Some vineyard parcels are ancient by California standards. The late-1800s Zinfandel vines are gone, but some of the Chardonnay dates to the 1950s, along with Cabernet vines planted in the 1960s. Many of the vines have the girth of a tree trunk.
But the essence of Mayacamas is best left alone.
April 30, 2013 Issue
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Columns
Posted: April 30, 2013 By James Laube
News & Features
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Tasting Highlights
New reviews of outstanding bottlings from the 2011, 2010 and 2009 vintages
Posted: April 29, 2013 By James Laube
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
With over 225 wines, it’s best to make a plan
Posted: April 25, 2013 By James Laube
There are many ways to approach the Wine Spectator Grand Tour tasting, which kicked off last night at San Francisco's Marriott Marquis. With some 225 wines being poured, there’s a little of everything, from Amarone to Vintage Port.
The event moves to Las Vegas Saturday night and then on to Chicago. Attendees can meander and see what strikes their fancy, or look for lines like the one that formed for Casanova di Neri last night. I suggest you go into it with a plan.
Blogs
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James Laube's Wine Flights
Remembering the Napa wine industry veteran
Posted: April 19, 2013 By James Laube
Businessman and Napa vintner George Vare, who died earlier this month, was at the top of the shortest lists. In the 1970s, an era when California wine was in its formative years, Vare actually understood the wine business as a business, inside-out and bottom to top, far better than most.
News & Features
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News
Initial public offering is first for a California winery since 1999
Posted: April 19, 2013 By James Laube, Aaron Romano
News & Features
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News
Man behind Geyser Peak and Luna Vineyards was a businessman and an innovator
Posted: April 17, 2013 By James Laube
